29 April, 2024
Glasgow & North Strathclyde and Surrey 2 triumphed in the Senior County Championships Division 1 play-offs to book their spots in next year’s Championship.
Alongside Suffolk 1 and Devon 1, Division 1 North and South’s collective top four teams battled it out over two days in a round-robin play-off at Babington College and English Martyrs Catholic School in Leicester.
Glasgow & North Strathclyde started their campaign strong against Suffolk 1, winning seven matches to Suffolk’s four to put their first points on the board.
Standout matches included two mixed doubles clashes, where Suffolk 1’s Chloe Dennis and James Scott battled from a game down to win 16-21 21-14 21-14 against Xinrui Tan and Ciar Pringle.
In another three-game thriller, Glasgow & North Strathclyde’s Emma Donald and Lewis Gallacher emerged 21-17 12-21 21-19 victors against Katie Scott and Daniel Moss.
A bout for the Scottish team with Surrey 2 followed, with the latter coming out on top with a 6-5 scoreline from their 11 matches.
Doubles dominance favoured Surrey 2 in their second Saturday meeting, winning five out of seven doubles matches.
But the Scottish contingent headed straight to the top of the standings with 21 points thanks to a 9-2 win against Devon 1 on Sunday to secure their Championship place.
Surrey 2 were a close second with 20 points, enough to punch their ticket to the top division. The Division 1 South leaders overcame Devon 1 9-2 on the first day before pipping Glasgow & North Strathclyde and followed that with a narrow 6-5 defeat to Suffolk 1.
That was enough to propel them to second in the four-team table and into the Championship.
Meanwhile, Suffolk 1 fell on the other side of fine competitive margins, coming close behind the promotion spots with 18 points while Devon 1 finished fourth with seven points after 9-2, 8-3 and 9-2 defeats across the weekend.
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